Improvement in feather - renovators



W'. H. ELLIOT.

Fea-ther-Renovators.

PATENT Errea.'

VILLIAM H. ELLIOT,

OF NEWT YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN FEATHER RENOVATORS.

Specilication forming part of Letters Patent No. 152,221., dated June 22, 1874; application nled April 13, 1.874.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WIM. H. ELLIOT, ofthe city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Featherdtenovator, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same devices in all the figures.

To enable others skilled in the arts to comprehend, make, and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its nature, construction, and operation.

The nature of my invention consists in the combination, construction, and operation of certain devices to facilitate the handling' and renovating of feathers, which are fully set forth in this specification.

Figure lis an elevation of the frame and boiler, and a section of the feather-cylinder and blower. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus, showing the boiler. Fig. Sis the same, showing the blower.

a., frame of the machine 5 a', casting, which supports the upright upon the horizontal portion of the frame 5 b, boiler; b', dome of the same; c, feather-cylinder; d, steam heatingcylinder; d', outlet for condensed steam c, fan bellows or blower; e, pulley of the blower; f, pulley on the end of cylinder c, which drives pulley j" by a belt; g, pulley on the same shaft with pulley j", both being supported on arm g. Pulley g drives the blower by a belt-connection with pulley c on the blower. h, windlass, composed of a cylinder for winding up cords 7L', pawl, ratchet, and crank; i, central shaft, which is bored for the passage of steam into the cylinders; i', coupling between the same and steam-pipe k,- k, stop-cock 5 on, openin gs in the side ofthe cylinder c for receiving and discharging feathers; m', openings provided y mouth of the air-passages; q, smoke-pipes;

Ir, valve over the outlet d; s, opening for steam from central shaft to heating-cylinder; -s, safety-valve, which consists of a cone of wood weighted at its lower end; t, slots cut in the upright portion of the frame, the lower ends of which form bearings for the central shaft c',- u, steam-pipe for passagevof steam into the feather-cylinder c; u', stop-cock on the same; c, iron frames of the cylinder-heads, c', joints between the two parts of the same 5 w, screws.

My invention relates to machines for renovating feathers; and its object is to remedy certain defects which have developed the1nselves in the use of these machines. The usualway of discharging the feathers from these machines is to cut a hole through the iloor and allow the feathers to pass through the hole into the room below, where they are caught in the bed-tick. To avoid this I em-v ploy windlass h, with cords h', for raising the cylinder high enough to allow the tick to be placed under it, and the feathers to be discharged without cutting a hole through the iioor.

rIhcse machines are generally carried around the country and set up and worked in many different places. Great inconvenience has been experienced in getting them into houses where they are to be used. in consequence of the size of the feather-cylinder. Those that have been made small enough in diameter to pass into an ordinary door must, to have suflicient capacity, be too long for convenience in transportation and in use. rIhose that are short enough for convenience and large enough to hold a full-sized feather-bed are too large in diameter to pass through a common doorway. rIo remedy this difiiculty I make the cylinder oval, or larger in diameter one way than the other-in its shortdiameter small enough to go through a doorway and large enough in its large diameter to make up for loss of space by reducing it in the other direction.

To remove the line dust from feathers before steaming them, I employ the blower c, which draws the air through the open hubs o of the cylinder, through the air-passages 0, through the feather-space, into the center of the blower, as indicated by the arrows. The

. wood frame.

blower is carried by the pulley fon the end of the cylinder, which is belted to f. As the cylinder is turned for the purpose of shaking up the feathers and liberating the dust, the blower is thereby caused to revolve with suiiicient rapidity to produce a strong current of air through the cylinder.

It may be seen by reference to Fig. l that the blower is attached to, and has a common axis with, the revolving cylinder c. By this arrangement of its axis with the axis of the revolving cylinder, the air is made to pass through the cylinder without a jointed connection in the air-passage between the blower and cylinder; and, as the pulley c on the blower is concentric with the pulley fon the cylinder, the belts are not deranged by the revolution of the cylinder, and the driving of.

the blower thereby.

In use, the feathertick is ripped sufliciently to fasten into the opening an oval This frame is then fastened to the cylinder over one of the openings m, and the cylinder rolled so as to bring the featherbed on the top of it. The feathers are then shaken into the cylinder, and the tiek removed, leaving the oval frame still attached to the tick, and the opening m closed by its cover. The cylinder may then` be revolved to shake up the feathers and drive the blower. Aminute or two is sufficient to free the feathers from dust. The stop-cocks 7c and u are then opened, and the steam allowed to pass into both the heating-cylinder and thc feathercylinder, while the cylinder is being turned with the blower disconnected. After the feathers have been sufficiently steamed, the stop-cock u is closed, leaving the steam still on the heating-cylinder, the blower connected, and the machine turned rapidly, whereby the heat of cylinder d and the current of dry air, being drawn in among and through the feathers, will dry them perfect-ly in four or six minutes. The belts are then thrown off the pulleys f and g, and the coupling/i disconnected, when the cylinder, by means of windlass h and cord h', is drawn up to the top of the frame. The oval frame, which is still in the tick, is fastened over al1 opening on the under side of the cylinder. The operator then removes the covers from the openings m', and puts his arm into the sleeve n, and, by means of a small broom which is always kept in the cylinder, he sweeps the leathers all down into the tick. The tick is then detached from the cylinder and closed up. The sleeve n hangs in the cylinder c, but is attached at its open end to an opening in the outer case. This enables the operator to put his arm into the cylinder to discharge the feathers without coming in contact with them. A crank attached to the central shaft z' would be a convenient means of turning the cylinder. The cords h are attached to the ends of the central shaft i, and when the windlass is turned the cylinder is raised, the shaft t' passing up the slots t in the frame. The air passes into the cylinder and out again through the open hubs 0.

It may be seen that the principal dischargeopening m is on the flattened side of the cylinder. In discharging the feathers from the cylinder into the tick, this opening is turned down, so that, when the cylinder is raised to its highest position, its short diameter being vertical, it takes up considerably less vertical space than it would if the opening for discharging the feathers were on one of its preimnent sides. In this way I get the necessary vroom under the cylinder to empty it, with a lower and less expensive frame, and carry on the operation in a lower, less expensive, and more easily procured room.

The iron frames e are fastened upon central shaft t', and form the supports ofthe outer case of the cylinder. These frames are divided at c into two parts, which are fastened together by screws fw. By removing these screws at both ends the cylinder will be divided, and three of its sides, with the smaller portions of the iron frames, separated from the rest of the cylinder, for convenience in repairing the parts within the cylinder, and also for the purpose of passing it through very narrow doorways.

Having described my improved feather-renovator, what I desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent of the United States isl. In combination with a feather-cylinder, a frame for supporting the lifting devices, a cord provided with suitable sheaves, and a windlass, for the purpose described.

2. In combination with a feather-cylinder of the form described, .having the discharge-opening on its ilattcned side, the frame a and elevating apparatus lz, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combina-tion of a revolving' fea-thercylinder and revolving blower mounted upon a common axis, as and for the purpose speciied.

4. In combination with the feather-renovator cylinder, the closed sleevea, attached to said cylinder, substantially as described, for the purpose of manipulating the feathers, as set forth.

W. H. ELLIOT.

XVitnesscs D. Lnwrs, C. L. OsGoon. 

